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Hevesi Pleads Guilty to a Felony and Resigns

State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, at right, was in court in Albany Friday with his lawyers, Stephen E. Kaufman, left, and Joel Cohen. Lawmakers are wrangling over choosing an interim comptroller.Credit
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

ALBANY, Dec. 22 — After calmly assuring a judge that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs and agreeing to pay a $50 fee so that his DNA could be included in a statewide database of convicted felons, State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi pleaded guilty Friday morning to defrauding the government and resigned from office.

Mr. Hevesi, the state’s top fiscal watchdog, told the court in a hoarse voice that one of the state workers he had assigned as a driver for his wife, Carol, had done much more than provide security for her. Prosecutors filed court papers revealing that the worker had also watered her plants, driven her to Bloomingdale’s and dropped off her dry cleaning.

“I apologize to the court, but until this issue became a public matter, I did not plan to reimburse the state for his time,” Mr. Hevesi told the court under oath, in a reversal of the statements he made this fall during his successful re-election campaign.

In a deal with the Albany County district attorney’s office, Mr. Hevesi pleaded guilty to a single felony, agreed to pay a $5,000 fine on top of the more than $206,000 he has already reimbursed the state, and agreed to resign for the rest of his current term and for the term that begins Jan. 1. The agreement will spare him prison time.

His resignation, which took effect immediately, left the comptroller’s office being run by Thomas Sanzillo, the first deputy comptroller. The State Legislature, which will choose Mr. Hevesi’s successor, is unlikely to do so until mid- to late-January at the earliest, officials said. That could lead to a constitutional showdown about the post.

Gov. George E. Pataki said Friday that he was concerned about the long lag time before the Legislature selects Mr. Hevesi’s successor, given that the state comptroller is the sole trustee of the state’s $145.7 billion pension fund and its investments. An aide to the governor said that Mr. Pataki was exploring whether he can appoint an interim comptroller — something Assembly Democrats say he cannot do.

“I’m concerned about, in the interim, what might happen here,” Mr. Pataki said at a news conference in the Capitol. “It’s a more than $100 billion fund that is in trust for the people of this state, particularly the retired employees of this state, and the stock market and the world economy can be very volatile. And I am concerned that if there is another 10-week or longer process, as to how that office will function.”

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Mr. Hevesi apologized to the public, his family and his former employees after he left a courthouse in Albany.Credit
Albany County District Attorney’s Office

But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has the most influence in picking a new comptroller, said that he was “comfortable” with Mr. Sanzillo serving in the interim, and questioned the governor’s legal authority to fill the post. A spokesman for the State Senate said the Senate was looking into the issue.

The comptroller’s office recently blocked several large contracts the governor had sought.

The resignation and the guilty plea capped a stunning fall from grace for an official who was first elected to the State Assembly 35 years ago, and who went on to serve as New York City comptroller for eight years before running unsuccessfully for mayor in 2001 and then being elected state comptroller in 2002.

Mr. Hevesi arrived at the courthouse at 10:15 a.m. on foot, surrounded by his lawyers and his children, and exchanged pleasantries with the reporters and photographers who had gathered there before going inside to be processed, and to pose for a mug shot. An hour later, he entered his plea in a packed courtroom.

For more than half an hour, Albany County Judge Stephen W. Herrick went over the terms of the plea agreement and asked him routine questions like whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Then, the judge asked Mr. Hevesi, “How do you plead to Superior Court Information 06-473 charging you with defrauding the government in violation of Section 195.20 of the penal law?”

“I plead guilty, sir,” Mr. Hevesi replied.

The comptroller signed a letter addressed to Mr. Silver, the Assembly speaker, and Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader, writing, “I hereby resign my position as comptroller of the state of New York effective immediately.”

The letter states that he also resigns his position for the term that begins Jan. 1, but Judge Herrick said Mr. Hevesi would need to send a second letter postmarked after Jan. 1 to resign from the next term. The judge set sentencing for Feb. 9. Officials said Mr. Hevesi is not expected to face jail time if he meets the terms of the plea.

Outside the courthouse, Mr. Hevesi faced a group of reporters and photographers and apologized to the people of New York, his family and “the 2,400 professionals in the comptroller’s office, who have done a remarkable job over the last four years, maybe unprecedented job, in protecting the taxpayers and leading a reform movement.”

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Mr. Hevesi, seen here in his mug shots, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 9, though he is not likely to serve prison time.Credit
Albany County District Attorney’s Office

A deposition prosecutors filed in court on Friday detailed the many personal errands that the main driver assigned to Mrs. Hevesi, Nicholas Acquafredda, had done for her, including picking up dishes from her sister, driving her to Bloomingdale’s and staying in the car while she shopped and picking up items for her at B.J.’s Wholesale Club. The deposition said that Mr. Acquafredda also performed work at her house, including taking out the trash, hanging curtains and picture frames, and moving her furniture.

The plea agreement was a high-profile victory for the new Albany County district attorney, P. David Soares, who has vowed to bring more government corruption cases. Mr. Soares said that his office had received “a number of tips of improprieties” in government and that it would look into them, but lamented that his staff is small.

The plea deal also removed a significant potential headache for Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat who had made it clear that he would seek Mr. Hevesi’s removal from office next year if necessary — which could have cost him significant political capital.

Mr. Spitzer called the comptroller’s resignation “a sad but necessary action” and went on to list some of the qualifications he would like to see in a new comptroller.

“He or she should have significant experience in financial matters,” he said in a statement. “This is imperative given the comptroller’s role in managing one of the nation’s largest pension funds; and he or she should be a person of unquestioned integrity who will act independently in the interests of taxpayers.”

The next comptroller will be chosen by both houses of the 212-member Legislature voting together, meaning that the next comptroller will need the votes of 107 lawmakers, giving Mr. Silver and the 108 Assembly Democrats the upper hand in selecting Mr. Hevesi’s successor. Mr. Silver said in a statement that the Legislature would do so “in partnership with the governor-elect.” Already a number of Assembly members, a county comptroller and others have expressed interest in the post.

The charge that Mrs. Hevesi used a state worker as a driver was first brought by J. Christopher Callaghan, his little-known, under-funded opponent, before he decisively lost the November election to Mr. Hevesi.

“Albany is constantly ridiculed as a dysfunctional state government,” he said in a statement. “But in this instance, when the people seem oddly content with an ethically challenged comptroller, Albany’s standards were higher. It makes me hopeful.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Hevesi Pleads Guilty to a Felony and Resigns. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe